EUROPE >Spanish magazine publishes Mohammad cartoon

Several hundred Muslims gathered to protest to protest against an anti-Islam film and cartoons considered insulting to Prophet Mohammad. REUTERS Photo

Spanish political satire magazine El Jueves has published a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammad on its cover, soon after violent protests rocked the Muslim world over a U.S. film and French caricatures deemed insulting to Islam.

El Jueves' latest edition, which hit Spanish newsstands on Wednesday, shows several Muslims in a police lineup under the title "But...does anyone know what Mohammad looks like?"

Any depiction of the prophet is considered blasphemous by Muslims but the issue has also caused a debate in the West about censorship and freedom of speech.

The magazine declined to comment to Reuters on Thursday on the motives for the publication.

But in comments to the Huffington Post, editor Mayte Quilez said it was a decision to take a humorous position on a contentious issue.

"If you can't depict Mohammad, how do you know it is him in the cartoons?" she asked.

Last week, French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo published cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad soon after protests against a film made in the United States provoked a torrent of anti-American unrest in Egypt, Libya and other countries.

The U.S. ambassador to Libya and three other Americans were killed in one of the first protests, on Sept. 11, and 15 people were killed in protests in Pakistan last Friday.

The Spanish Embassy on Wednesday sent a message to its citizens in Egypt asking for caution in the event of any backlash from the El Jueves cartoon but has not said whether it will step up security in other Arab countries.

"We're still analysing what steps to take," a foreign ministry source said.